After the tumultuous finish to its 2012 MLS season, Chivas USA frenetically moved to overhaul its roster, coaching staff and front office.

One cornerstone of the organization stood, though, and goalkeeper Dan Kennedy on Thursday signed a contract extension that will keep him with the club through 2016.

“This is the club that really gave me the first opportunity in MLS, so I have a lot of passion for this club,” Kennedy said. “Because of the way things went at the end of last season I didn’t want to be looked at as one of those players who just wanted to get out of here. I wanted to stand by it and prove we had more in us.

“What I’ve been preaching to everybody is if we can make the changes here now, it’ll say more about us that anything else. If we can be the group that changes this thing and moves us forward and gets us out of what we were dealing with at the end of last season, it’ll say a lot about of the characters on the team and I want to be part of that.”

An MLS all-star, the team captain and club MVP is in his sixth season with Chivas and third as the starting goalie. Chivas finished in last place in 2012 with a 7-18-9 record and closed the season with an 0-10-4 mark in the final 14 games.

This season, under new coach Jose Luis Sanchez Sola, the Goats are 3-3-2 and tied for fourth in the Western Conference standings, meaning they would be in the postseason.

Kennedy was signed through this season and the club held his option for 2014. Kennedy earned $175,000 in the 2012, though this year’s salaries have not yet been released by the players’ association.

The negotiations for a contract extension began early in preseason training camp.

“It’s obviously put me in some ease and kind of made a statement of where this club is going, and they’re willing to stick by my side and I will definitely sticking by theirs,” said Kennedy, who attended El Dorado High and UC Santa Barbara. “When you’re under contract and you start a new contract negotiation, it’s normally a bit of a process and takes a couple months because there’s not a lot of urgency behind the deal.”

Kennedy said he wasn’t aware of any direct offers to play overseas, but that could still happen if Chivas is given the right offer. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan, midfielder Sacha Kljestan and defender Jonathan Bornstein have all made that jump from Chivas.

But there is one catch in Kennedy’s case and he’s well aware of it.

“A big part of those guys being able to go was being a part of the national team, so I’m fighting for that,” Kennedy said. “You’ve got to take one step at a time and I would like to be one of the best goalies in the league and be competing to make our national team better. I feel like those are the proper steps for me to take and if that can happen, then I can continue to open some doors.”

Kennedy said he has yet to hear from U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann. But what he heard from Chivas was plenty for now.

“The plan right now is to have him for the long term,” Chivas director of soccer operations Paco Palencia said. “We have to see what comes along down the road, but as of right now, we have Dan Kennedy here for the long term.”

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